Cornered
by Impromptuple
Summary: Michael Corner did one thing right but it wound up still being wrong. M only for language. [Prompt: Have you ever spoken up when you saw something going on that was wrong? Were you scared? What ended up happening?]


Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters are borrowed for their ingenuity and inspiration.

* * *

Michael Corner, best known for being Ginny Weasley's ex-boyfriend. That's what his wizardpedia article would say.

He stared out into the forest, wondering where he had gone wrong. His father warned him about this, the curse of his family. He was naive enough to think that his mother's magical blood would be enough to overcome his father's plain blood. Apparently not.

The day he found out the truth of his heritage was the second worst day of his life. _Cornered. For always._

"Michael, my son, there's something you need to know." His father looked sad - no, he looked distraught.

 _What could father possibly have to say?_ His father's plain blood was the reason he was picked on, ostracized, even beat up at school. She was the only thing that happened in his life. But she's gone now.

"We, our family, my father, my father's father, and all the men before him… we're cursed. We have little to no control over what happens in our life. There will be good times, so good that it will feel like the curse is broken. But then it'll all come crashing down and you'll realize that you're stuck between a rock and a hard place."

He stared at his father. These conversations were not abnormal; his father would often come up with excuse after excuse for his atrocious treatment of his son. Growing up in the Corner household was not easy. His father always had one task or another for him, never letting him alone or giving him a chance to relax. The tasks were never easy and most of them were extremely laborious.

"You have to know that I never wanted this. I wish we never had to have this conversation. There are times where I wish you were never born. I never wanted you." His father looked as if his words sickened him. _I know you never wanted me as your son – you've made that abundantly clear over the years._

"Michael, there's a reason why we are the Corners - we'll always be cornered into the worst situations, cornered into the worst conversations, cornered into the worst circumstances. Cornered. For always."

Well that certainly had some truth to it. Before Hogwarts, he would always be cornered in doing something or another usually resulting in someone else having leverage over him. And the vicious cycle would just keep repeating. Rinse. Lather. Repeat. He thought Hogwarts would be different but somehow on day one, Penelope Clearwater managed to find out that he was almost sorted into Slytherin. And it just snowballed from there. He'd been the Weasley twins' scapegoat many times. Even Filch had something to hold over him. It just wasn't fair. And then there was her. She was the best thing that ever happened to him but that doesn't mean it wasn't because of nefarious means that he actually got to know her.

"Michael, you have to understand that I never wanted to pass on the curse. I intended to be the last of the Corners but, then, I met your mother. She was what went right in my life and when she was pregnant with you, she was so happy. I couldn't bear to tell her." His eyes hardened. _Cornered. For always. The family motto._

He ran that day, into the forest behind his home. Just like today, he stared into the forest, feeling nothing but despair. For once in his life, his father told him the truth and it stung, it hurt, and it won't go away. The cold wind bit at his face and pushed him back onto the only path he had left, perhaps the only path he ever had.

 _It was all her fucking fault. She's the reason he was on this path and she's the reason for the worst day in his life._

"You know they only mean you well". That was where he went wrong. He never considered himself to be one of those loyal to a fault Hufflepuffs but that didn't mean he didn't stand up for what was right once in a while. "They're only trying to protect you."

As soon as those words passed through his lips he knew, he knew that the best thing in his life was over. But what choice did he have? She would blame him for undermining her abilities if he stood up for her, a rock, or she would blame him for not standing up for her, a hard place. _Cornered. For always._

"So today is pick on Ginny day, is it? I stood up for YOU, you ungrateful wanker. Did you want us to be chastened and followed around by those two asses all day long? Fuck you Michael." She walked away that day, never to look back. He tried to find her and talk to her – explain that he didn't mean any harm, that she was the best thing in his life. But Weasley managed to corner him later that day, before he could talk to Ginny.

"My sister is that much better off without you. You broke her fucking heart and thank god Harry was around to pick up the bloody pieces. Oh I know how you managed to coerce her into dating you. You thought you were so special, picking on a younger girl. Blackmailing her into dating you. Well you didn't take me into account, did you, you fucker? You broke her heart, and now you'll break like the piece of shit you are."

As he lay on the stone ground, in a pool of his own blood, he realized that she was both the worst and best thing that happened to him. She brought him so much joy and so much life. But she also took away his integrity. No, he never blackmailed her, what blackmail could he possibly have on her anyways? No. She caught him stealing potions ingredients from Snape's personal store, for the twins ironically. She told him that he owed her. That she would reclaim that favor. Or she would report him to Snape.

Nefarious means. It was certainly nefarious. She ultimately used him. He knew it too. "Corner. I'm here to claim your debt. You're going to date me. You're going to treat me well. And you're going to make Harry jealous of our relationship."

That didn't mean he didn't love every minute of it. She was the sun that rises in the east, she was his little fall of rain, she was everything. And now she was nothing of his. _And if she isn't mine, she can't be anyone else's._

Today is the day everything will be decided. He peered out of the forest one last time glancing at what once was his home. This was his redemption.

"Attack!"

 _Yes, My Lord._


End file.
